There are no plans to reopen Batch 13, which officially has been “temporarily closed” for about a year, a company official says.
The Batch 13 menu is still available for large orders through Mirepoix Event Catering, according to statements a spokesperson attributed to Ariel Pierce, marketing manager with parent company Al Copeland Investments.
The future of the downtown space at 555 Lafayette St. is unclear. The spokesperson deferred to the landlord on that question. But Tina Rance with Commercial Properties Realty Trust, which is the landlord, said the company is still in their lease.
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Al Copeland Investments launched the Batch 13 concept in Baton Rouge in 2017, offering fast-casual breakfast and lunch. The company opened another location in Lafayette in 2018, and then moved its Baton Rouge location from Essen Lane to downtown last year. The Lafayette restaurant closed less than two years after opening, before the pandemic.
Last December, Allison Donnelly, vice president of Al Copeland Investments, told Daily Report the Baton Rouge restaurant was closed because of COVID-19 capacity restrictions, but said the plan was to reopen when it’s “safe to do so.” Those restrictions have since been lifted.
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“Once the guidelines reduced us to 50% occupancy, that, with the traffic of downtown, wasn’t enough to justify keeping the doors open,” Donnelly said. “We’re saving the business by pausing operations until guidelines loosen.”
As of Thursday morning, Dec. 2, the restaurant’s website says it is “temporarily closed.”
This story originally appeared in a Dec. 2 edition of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.